Transcripts For MSNBCW First Look 20191007

Years. Good monday morning, everybody. It is october 7. Im Yasmin Vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. President trump has a new defense for his july 25th phone call. To the president of ukraine that is at the center of House Democrats impeachment inquiry. Two sources familiar with the matter telling nbc news that trump told House Republicans friday that he was urged to make the call by Energy Secretary rick perry. Sources say trump suggested it was a call he didnt even want to make. In response to that news, which was first reported by axios, the department of energy press secretary tells nbc news quote this, secretary perry absolutely supported and encouraged the president to speak to the new president of ukraine to discuss matters related to their Energy Security and economic development. He continues to believe that there is significant need for improved regional Energy Security with additional options for natural gas supply will provide and this is exactly why he is heading to lithuania to meet with nearly two dozen European Energy leaders, including ukraine on these issues. Perry is reportedly set to resign from his position as Energy Secretary next month. A second whistleblower has come forward with information about President Trumps july 25th phone call with president of ukraine and an attorney representing the original whistleblower says their legal team is now representing the second whistleblower who has firsthand knowledge of the events that supports the accounts of the first whistleblower. This second whistleblower has spoken to the Inspector General of the intelligence community, michael atkinson, but legal sources tell nbc news, he or she is not filing a separate formal complaint. The news comes as House Democrats push forward with their impeachment inquiry. In fact, the existence of a second whistleblower could in fact undercut President Trumps repeated claims that the original whistleblower complaint was quote totally inaccurate. And President Trump has continued to deny that he did anything improper during his call with the president of ukraine. But republicans and the white house have struggled to put out a unified response. Trump tweeted last night this. Democrat lawyer is same for both whistleblower, question mark. All support obama and crooked hillary. Witch hunt. The president s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, also weighed in on twitter writing this. Surprise democrat lawyer has other secret sources. Swamp media will corruptly fail to point out it means nothing, now that the conversation is public. No money, no quid pro quo, unlike biden helping son make millions from ukrainian crook. Orchestrated dem Campaign Like kavanaugh. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham put out a statement yesterday, she said this, it doesnt matter how many people decide to call themselves whistleblowers, about the same telephone call, a call the president already made public, it doesnt change the fact that he has done wrog nothing wrong. Only three republican senators have spoken out against president s call to china to investigate joe biden, Susan Collins said the president made a big mistake and called it completely inappropriate. And sasse says americans dont look to the chinese for the truth and if the biden kid broke law by selling to beijing, thats an american for american courts not communist tyrants running torture campaigns and no reaction got under the skin as much as the third senator, mitt romney, in fact, the president , or mitt romney tweeted when the only american citizen President Trump singles out for chinas investigation is his plinl opponent in the midst of the democratic nomination process its strange fragility to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated. By all appearance, the president s brazen and unprecedented appeal to ukraine and china is wrong and appalling. Compare that reaction to what we have been hearing from the president s defenders. Lets start with the republican senator marco rubio. Its okay to President Trump to ask china to launch an investigation of joe biden and hunter biden . I dont know if thats a real request or him just needling the press knowing you would get outraged by it and he plays it like a violin and everybody falls into it. Thats not a real request. Do you really think he was serious about thinking that china is going to investigate the biden family . Why cant you answer yes or no . Do you think it is appropriate. I dont, because i dont think what is what he did. Well, i doubt if the china comment was serious to tell you the truth. You dont take the president at his word . No, the president love goes go out on the white house driveway, i havent talked to him about this, i dont know what the president was thinking but i know he loves to bait the press. So President Trump is escalating his attacks on joe biden and his sons dealings in ukraine and calling on the former Vice President to end his 2020 bid. Trump tweeted yesterday this. The biden family was paid off. Pure and simple. The fake news must stop making excuses for something that is totally inexcusable. Sleepy joe said he never spoke to the ukrainian company, and then the picture came out where he was playing golf with the company boss and hunter. And by the way, i would love running against 1 joe biden, i just dont think it is going to happen. Sleepy joe wont get to the starting gate and based on all of the money he and his family probably extorted in quotation mark, joe should hang tup. I wouldnt want him dealing with china and eu. In a statement reacting to trumps tweets the Biden Campaign said this, it is puzzling that donald trump claims he loves to run against joe biden seeing as how he just sent his administration into a tailspin by trying to bully a foreign country into spreading a comprehensivelydebunked Conspiracy Theory about the Vice President. Donald trump knows what over 70 poll, including his own internals, have demonstrated. Joe biden would beat this pathological liar like a drum. Soon, trump will run out of countries he can pressure to bail him out politically, and he will lose the oldfashioned way. An intervention by his own country, courtesy of the american people, in 2020. In an oped published in the washington post, biden criticized President Trumps public beef for china investigating him, enough is enough, every day, every few hours, seemingly new evidence is uncovered revealing that President Trump is abusing the power of the presidency and is wholly unfit to be president. He is using the highest office in the land to advance his personal political interests. Instead of the national interests. The president s most recent violation of the rule of law openly calling for china to interfere in our elections, as he today on the south lawn of the white house, is so outrageous, it is clear he considers the presidency a free pass to do whatever he wants with no accountability. Joining us now from washington, political reporter for the hill, julia manchester. Julia, good morning to you. Thanks for getting up with us. Always appreciate it. Good morning. Talk to us about how the focus on joe biden and hunter biden and their involvement in what is taking place with ukraine, how that has impacted the 2020 campaign . It has impacted the 2020 campaign in a huge way. I was talking to a number of democratic strategists and operatives last week, and telling me that there is some concern among those in the Democratic Community right now about President Trump and the Trump Campaign, really trying to spin this, like the 2016 campaign, and trying to make, not make a comparison but a similar scenario of joe biden and Hillary Clinton and her emails and we know that very much spoke to a lot of independents and some obviously President Trumps base in 2016, so youre seeing the Trump Campaign, through this 8 million ad buy, and messaging, really trying to push a message that joe biden is corrupt, that this is evidence that he is corrupt, and that President Trump is once again a political out sider really trying to drain the swamp, if you will. However, democrats are very much pushing back against that. You know, talking about President Trumps involvement, maybe in other countries and the elections, and that sort of thing, so very much a back and forth between these two sides right now but it has very much influenced the selection. And the, this election and the main way i would say it has made it a twoman race in the democratic primary. What potential could infighting among republicans have on trumps base as the house impeachment inquiry moves forward, do you think . I think there could definitely be a potential for that, for there to be some damage done. However, if we look back throughout the trump presidency, youve seen that republicans have very much fallen in line, and he has a very high approval rating, among his own party. So i think that is going to play very much in favor for him. Weve seen some republicans come out against him, mitt romney, susan colin, ben sasse, criticize him, if you will, in this ukraine phone call. However, i think they are a minority. Within the party, i think republicans are going to eventually come up with a very unified message, going forward. And it is still very early in the primary. Julia manchester, thank you. We will talk to you again in a little bit. Still ahead, reporting from the wall street, that ukraine officials were already sweating under pressure from the white house months before trumps phone call with the president of ukraine. And later, many Democratic White House officials, or white house hopefuls i should say, have released their new fundraising numbers but not former congressman beto orourke. We will show you his explanation for that. We will have those stories and a check of weather when we come right back. I didnt have to call 911. Help. And i didnt have to come get you. Because you didnt have another heart attack. Not today. You took our conversation about your chronic coronary Artery Disease to heart. Even with a stent procedure, your condition can get worse over time, and keep you at risk of blood clots. So you added xarelto®, to help keep you protected. Xarelto®, when taken with lowdose aspirin, is proven to further reduce the risk of blood clots that can cause heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death in people with chronic cad. Thats because while aspirin can help, it may not be enough to manage your risk of blood clots. In a clinical trial, almost 96 of people taking xarelto® did not have a cardiovascular event. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death. While taking, a spinal injection increases the risk of blood clots which may cause paralysis the inability to move. You may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. Enjoy every momentand help protect yourself from an unexpected one, like a cardiovascular event. Are you doing enough . Ask your doctor if its time for xarelto®. To learn more about cost and how janssen can help, visit xarelto. Com. Welcome back, everyone. The the wall street journal is reporting that in the months before President Trumps controversial phone call with ukrainian president zelensky, ukrainian officials were already feeling pressure to cooperate with the white house to find out information about former Vice President joe biden and his family. Now, according to the journal, just two weeks after zelensky was elected he got word that trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani wanted to visit kiev to talk to zelenski about information regarding his clients political rival. However zelenski fearful of getting sucked into a foreign drama declined to take that meeting. Over the next several months zelenskis administration tried to sort through conflicting signals out of washington that have become central to the ongoing impeachment inquiry in President Trump. Most worrying, the ukrainians learned long after that washington had decided to withhold nearly 400 million in approved military assistance, the journal notes that zelenskis difficulties were magnified with his lack of familiarity with american politics. Late last month, during a press conference with trump, zelenski said that he did not feel pressured by the president. But with ukraine now thrust firmly into the middle of a partisan fight in washington, ukraines prosecutor general Just Announced last week that it would look at a number of investigations that had been closed under previous administrations, however biden was not specifically mentioned by name. Joining us on the set, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. How could this impact, danny, this revelation, how could this revelation impact the impeachment inquiry, or this tick tock leading up to this phone call with the ukrainian president . It fleshes out some of the grounds for the impeachment inquiry. But any evidence that there was, as you say, pressure on the ukraine, i did it again, ukraine, long before the phone call of july, tens to show or could show that there was no quid pro quo, there was no this for that in the phone call. No demand, no pressure. But owner, it really doesnt matter under federal law how separate the quid pro quo is, it could be months earlier and a benefit not necessarily received by each of the parties but somebody important to them so traditional notions of quid pro quo have been so expanded by federal criminal law, that just because the pressure may have come at a different time, or the parties were not direct recipients, doesnt rule out the notion i guess of quid pro quo. I think one of the points of the whistleblower complaint is to take everything in context, not just the phone call but the pattern of behavior over a period of months and that has made the president question the accuracy of that phone call. Now we have a second whistleblower that has come forward, according to his attorney, and could potentially corroborate or substantiate the entire account that was provided by the first whistleblower, talk to us about the significance of a second whistleblower as it undermines the claim that the first account was not an accurate one. You said the magic word and it is corroboration. Any time you have two stories that relatively match each other, its going to be difficult to counter them. But in a sense, we always knew there might be some form of corroboration, because these phone calls, these actions by the executive, dont happen in a vacuum. They dont happen alone. Theres either somebody listening in terms of a human or sometimes there is even electronic listening and transcribing. So there is not, there is not too much surprise that there may be a second whistleblower act that contains a lot of the same information, because we knew all along that President Trump is monitored, either on the american side or even on the side of the other country that hes speaking to. So this is not that much of a surprise. But again, i would just ask, how does it really strengthen the case for the impeachment inquiry, especially when the defense is that this first whistleblower did not have firsthand knowledge of what too place. Supposedly the second whistleblower does have firsthand knowledge. Thats right. And depending on what that modge is, the firsthand knowledge is important, and it could tend to show that the first whistleblowers claims are corroborated and more truthful, but i caution everyone that just because something is secondhand information, in terms of an investigation, doesnt make it less valuable. It does in the sense that if youre going to trial and you have hearsay evidence thats not admissible, then its value is diminished, but investigators on the front end of an investigation welcome secondhand information. Its often how an investigation begins. It is also probably very hard given the fact that this is in the intelligence world, for anyone to have hard evidence to substantiate their claims because a lot of it must be classified. Thats right. You dont want to compromise how a certain methodology of intelligence gathering happens. Thats right. Danny cevallos, thanks. Good monday morning. Here we go again. Last week was all about the heat wave. Historic. Remember, we also had the snowstorm, too. And now we will have the second snowstorm already of the fall season. Winter storm warnings in areas of western montana. And winter storm watch for areas of northern wyoming. A decent one, not epic like last week but anywhere in the red it shows eight inches of snow, but anywhere in the light blue is two or three inches. A pretty good footprint throughout much of the mountains in the Northern Rockies and some of this will spill in the plains here. North dakota, from bismarck to rapid city, and even a little section here of scott bluff. It looks like denver, you avoid staying out of this. And here is how were shaping up. Anywhere in the tennessee area, northern mississippi, alabama, it is raining out there now, and even some thunderstorms, during the day today, the heavier rains shift through central portions of tennessee and into the mountainous areas of west virginia, and all through central pennsylvania, and upstate new york, areas from binghamton, into albany, much of vermont and New Hampshire and through maine, it is umbrella day. You will see some periods of heavy rain. And i95, on and off light rain or drizzle at times, the heavier rain should hold off until later on this evening. Then tuesday, we watch that system clearing the coast. And wednesday still a little damp. A lot of clouds this week. For areas of southern new england. And florida is going to kind of stormy, too. And here comes the snowstorm, tuesday into wednesday, and in the middle of the country, an then by the time we get to thursday and friday, a slow mover, it may try to trek into areas even in northern minnesota, and it will drag that cold front through the middle of the country, so in october, what we have, often, is you get a shot of cold air, its chilly, and then it warms up and then you get another shot behind you a couple of days later and thats the case in the midful the country. For today, i dont think the travel delays will toob bad at the airports in the northeast. Kind of cloudy and on and off showers. In the middle of the country by the way, fantastic. Enjoy this today. Because the end of the week is kind of stormy. This is what youre waiting for. San antonio, dallas, little rock, to st. Louis, to chicago, doesnt get much better than this. Temperatures in the afternoon in the low 70s. My ideal weather. Thanks, bill. Still ahead the Supreme Court gets back to work today and several Big Decisions made about divisive issues in this country. A preview of some of the major cases next. A preview of some ofr cases next n lets hide in the attic. No. In the basement. Why cant we just get in the running car . Are you crazy . Lets hide behind the chainsaws. Smart. Yeah. Ok. If youre in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. Its what you do. This was a good idea. Shhhh. Im being quiet. Youre breathing on me if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Lets go to the cemetery if you have moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis, every day can begin with flakes. Its a reminder of your struggles with psoriasis. 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New depend® fitflex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. Because, perfect or not, lifes better when youre in it. Be there with depend®. [phone ringing] how are we doing . Fabulous. I wonder how the firms doing without its fearless leader. You sure you want to leave that all behind . Yeah. Stay restless, with the icon that does the same. The new rx crafted by lexus. Lease the 2020 rx 350 all wheel drive for 439 month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Welcome back. The Supreme Court is back in session today, and it is shaping up to be a blockbuster term. The justices will be hearing cases about hot button issues from immigration to gay rights to religious freedoms. Pete williams has a review. In one of the terms most important case, the Supreme Court will decide what is to become of daca. The dreamers united will never be defeated. The obama air program that lets children of undocumented migrants stay in the u. S. If they were under 16 when their parents brought them here. It covers more than 700,000 young people including claudia, a College Student who came here as a young girl with her mother from bolivia. Daca truly changed my life. And you know, i have a Social Security number, i have the ability to work, i have the ability to contribute and pay taxes. President trump tried to shut daca down, but lower courts blocked the move. In another high profile case the justices will decide whether existing federal law makes it illegal to fire employees because theyre gay, lesbian, or transgender. Gerald lost his county job in georgia after joining a gay softball league. I was fired for being gay. I lost everything. I lost my income and my medical insurance. Does a law that bans sex discrimination also apply to Sexual Orientation . The court will decide whether states can block religiously affiliated schools with strscho programs with taxpayer money. And abortion. And the court may look at how the lech toll college is supposed to work which is how america chooses the president. A big uncertainty is the health of Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg after recent battles with lung and pancreatic cancers. At my age, 86, you have to take it year by year. I know im okay, i was okay this last term, i expect to be okay next term. Justice ginsburg says she intends to serve as long as she can devote full steam to the job. Pete williams, nbc news, at the Supreme Court. And our thank you to Pete Williams for that report. And still ahead, reporting the gop senator ron johnson winced when he heard ukraine aid is being tied to an investigation of the bidens. We will show you his defense of the president yesterday. An update on senator Bernie Sanders health after his Campaign Said he suffered a heart attack. Were back in a moment. Aid he s heart attack were back in a moment [woman] with my shark, i deep clean messes like this, this, and even this. 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Principal. We can help you plan for that. Start today at principal. Com. Hey. Hey. You must be stevens phone. Now you can take control of your home wifi and get a notification the instant someone new joins your network. Only with xfinity xfi. Download the xfi app today. Welcome back, everybody. Im Yasmin Vossoughian, alongside ayman mohyeldin, we are be ging with breaking news here. Late last night, the white house announced that u. S. Troops are beginning a withdrawal of Northern Syria near the turkish border. The decision followed a phone call the president had with president erdogan yesterday. And the Trump Administration says turkey will soon be moving forward with its longplanned operation into Northern Syria. The u. S. Armed forces will not support or be involved in the operation and the United States forces having defeated the isis territorial caliphate will no longer be in the immediate area. Lets bring in nbc news chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel who joins us on the phone right now. Richard, good to have you with us. Significant developments that could up end this part of the region. Lets talk about at the moment how this plays out with the ongoing conflict inside syria, the likelihood that we will see the kurds, who could they possibly turn to next, what could they possibly do, in terms of appealing to this syrian president bashar al assad, for help . So there are a lot of moving parts to this. And the kurds are now in a desperate situation. And theres an important sequence of events that happened here that makes this what they are calling a betrayal, even more painful. So the kurds in Northern Syria, the kurds who have been fighting with the American Special forces against isis, for the last several years, the kurds who have lost more than 10,000 of their men and women, fighting alongside special forces, to defeat the isis caliphate, and something that they successfully did, they have been, in this bubble, they have been working with u. S. Special force, and because of an agreement that they were coordinating with the americans, just recently, they pulled all of their heavy weapons and their front line units away from the turkish border. And had just done this, as a confidencebuilding exercise. And just done this to make the turks feel more secure that their presence wasnt the threat to turkey. And carried out this troop redeployment, pulling back the heavy weapons, and i just spoke to someone inside this region, who described the sequence of events to me right now, and they said they woke up this morning after they had pulled their defenses away, and learned that President Trump had given the turkish president the green light to invade. So they feel very betrayed. They feel that they specifically were deceived or betrayed in on the last minute and to answer your question, who are they going to turn to now . They tried reaching out to the americans. That hasnt been very successful to them. Their only two other options are to sue for some sort of peace for turkey or reach out to the russians or reach out to the syrian government. What is behind the u. S. s decision in all of this, especially considering what you just laid out with the kurds feeling as if theyve been completely betrayed . This is a President Trump decision. This was not popular at the pentagon. This was certainly not popular among u. S. Special forces. I know these u. S. Special Operations Forces quite well. Ive spent time with them in this pocket of Northern Syria. This was something that the u. S. Military has long been opposed to. President trump has floated this idea many times. As soon as the counterisis mission was done. And you know, President Trump talks about this a lot. I defeated isis. I broke the caliphate. Its gone. Its over. As soon as the kurds and the americans did in fact defeat the isis terrorist state, President Trump is wanting to pull those forces out, knowing, being told, numerous times, what it would do to the allies who fought against isis. The military put pressure on them. Brett mcguirk, who was the special envoy put pressure on them. Secretary mattis resigned over this. But now, President Trump is doing what he wanted to do, previously, and he is apparently unchecked. So this is not a surprise that President Trump wanted to do they has talked about this time and time again. He thinks that mission was over. And it is time to come home. And what happens happens. Richard, you lived in, you lived in turkey, you know turkey better than anyone, the turkish president his political standing in his own country somewhat weakened in recent years by. So domestic politics, what is the concern that perhaps turk why invading Northern Syria, igniting a fight with kurds, could trigger the kind of violence we saw in southeastern turkey, in the 80s and the early 90s, if you have kurds from iraq, southern turkey, and now Northern Syria, all responding to any Turkish Military operation in the northern part of that country . So interesting dynamic inside turkey as well. President trump erdogan has been consolidating power more and more. He has had some recent setbacks. There are two ways to look at this. One, that a military offensive launched by turkey, which it will describe and is describing as a counterterrorism operation, will boost his support amongs constituency, among his base. This is what they want. Hes been preparing the ground. Saying that these kurds who have been operating, the kurds who helped fight against isis, e ironically, are a bunch of terrorists and that they need to be destroyed. If the kurds then start reacting, start carrying out attacks inside turkey, that will only feed this narrative, and could potentially push even more people into erdogan camp. I think that is his calculation here. He has said time and time again that he does not want the kurdish nationalists, the kurdish terrorists to use the word, for the enclave in syria, and if when he attacked the enclave, turkish fighter, turkish extremists inside his own country, by turkey, to decide to carry out attacks against whatever they decide, whatever they decide to attack, it will certainly alienate people in turkey and could turn them more toward erdogan. Richard, your reporting on the rise and fall of isis is online, at nbc news. Com. Richard engel, thank you. Thanks. Now to the impeachment push and republican senator ron johnson who thought he was helping the president when he told the wall street journal that the u. S. Ambassador to the european union, Gordon Sondland described to him in august an arrangement involving the military aid to ukraine, that at the time the president was in fact withholding. According to the journal, johnson said sondland told him that ukraine under the newly elected president would appoint a stronger prosecutor general and move to get to the bottom of what happened in 2016. If President Trump has that confidence, then hell release the military spending. Johnson said quote, at that suggestion, i winced. My reaction was, oh, god, i dont want to see those two things combined. Johnson says he asked the president about it in a phone call the very next day. And he claims that President Trump denied such an arrangement. Well, chuck todd asked the senator about it on meet the press. Why did you wince . And what did you mean by those two things combined . Well, let me first, before i start answering all of the detailed questions, let me talk about why im pretty sympathetic with what President Trump has gone through. By the way you have john brennan on, you might want to ask what peter strzok when he texted lisa paige on senator quote. Chuck, let me finish. Things have to do with ukraine scorned what does this have to do with ukraine . It has everything to do with ukraine. I have my third let near the Inspector General senator asking to just confirm, just confirm, are you investigating those leaks that peter strzok talked about in senator, i have no idea why no, thats a setup. It is entirely relevant to this point. Why a fox news conspiracy propaganda stuff is popping up on here, i have no idea. It is not that. I have no idea why were going here. That is senator, im asking about exactly why President Trump is upset and why his supporters are upset at the news media. This is not about the media. Senator johnson, senator johnson, please. Can we please answer the question that i asked you, instead of trying to make donald trump feel better here, that youre not criticizing him. Im not. Im just trying to lay the ground work of your very biased opening. What made you wince . What is, im asking a simple question about you, clearly, were upset that somehow there was an implication that military aid was being frozen, because the president wanted an investigation. Why did you wince . Because i didnt want those connections. And i was supporting the aid. As is senator murphy, as is everybody that went to that number inauguration. But here is the salient point of why i came forward. When i asked the president about that, he completely denied it. He adamantly denied it. He vehemently, angrily denied. He said i would never do that. That is the piece of the puzzle i am here today. I would never do that but you can see what he has done. And you can make the implications from that. And lets talk about what we have heard from people like susan colin, ben sasse, mitt romney, republicans speaking about the president s interactions specifically with the ukrainian president and foreign leaders as well. Could the pressure of impeachment split the gop ahead of 2020 . It is hard to say, but i dont think were at that point yet. These three senators are people who have criticized President Trump in the past. And we have to remember that Susan Collins is facing her own uphill reelection bid in 2020. So shes kind of walking a very fine line. In terms of mitt romney, he has been very critical of the president in the past. So it really comes as no surprise. However, i think if you see more of these figures coming out, and questioning the phone call, and criticizing President Trumps roll in it, we have seen some republicans behind closed doors do that. And you know, i dont think youre going to see a major split within the gop. The Republican Party has historically, and we saw it in 2016, very much fallen in line with whoever their nominee or whoever the president is. So i dont think there is going to be any big republican coup any time soon. However, never say never in this news cycle. And we dont know what could necessarily come out in the future. Lets talk for a moment about the big news over the weekend, that a second whistleblower has come forward, at least according to his representation, legal representation. Could this second whistleblowers account impact republicans who have been on the fence about the support, about their support, rather, for an impeachment inquiry . And how could it ultimately just change the dynamic of the whole inquiry . Absolutely. It just puts more republicans, you know, pressure on those republicans, who are very much on the fence about this. Youre seeing more people coming forward, so that means maybe, you know, there could be more smoke there, if you will. In terms of going forward, into another impeachment inquiry, or into this impeachment inquiry, we know that democrats are very much going to seize upon this and get more information on that. We have a number of hearings scheduled on capitol hill this week, so theyre going to be definitely seizing upon this new development. Now that there is a second person. I mean we never know, there could be more. Julia manchester, thanks. Still ahead the democratic fundraising picture is coming into sharper focus this morning. Where the money raised now stands. New reporting on joe biden and whether he has proven himself unprepared for President Trumps attacks, your first look at morning joe is back in a moment. At morning joe is back moment at farmers insurance, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. Even a ernie lost rubber duckie . burke you mean this one . ernie rubber duckie cookie what about a broken cookie jar . burke again, cookie . cookie yeah. Me bad. grover yoooooow oh what about monsters having accidents . I am okay by the way burke depends. Did you cause the accident, grover . grover cause an accident . Maybe. bert how do you know all this stuff . burke just comes with experience. all muppets yup. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum before she puts them in the dishwasher. 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Absolutely. What is this, some kind of fairy tale . Its just right book your just right rental at thrifty. Com. Oh baby bear former Vice President joe biden has been caught offguard by the increased level of attacks from President Trump. Speaking at a Candidate Forum last week, biden said quote, it is way beyond anything i quite frankly thought he would do. Long time confidante of the former Vice President says he is surprised that the president has escalated his attacks so dramatically and so early in the race. We are told bidens reluctance to discuss his family in the campaign is the major reason he has not chosen to respond forcefully. And it has overwhelmed his candidacy in an already difficult time with his frontrunner status in the democratic president ial field im paralleled by tightening polls and slower fundraising. President ial candidate Bernie Sanders heart attack last week has forced his campaign it reset at a pivotal time where rival Elizabeth Warren has passed him in several polls. Watch this. Hello, everybody. We are in las vegas. I just got out of the hospital. A few hours ago. And im feeling so much better. I just want to thank all of you for the love and warm wishes that youve sent to me. See you soon on the campaign trail. Sanders was discharged from the hospital in las vegas on friday, while his rivals were attending a forum for service employee, many activists there were wondering if sanders will be healthy enough to keep up in the 2020 race. At 78 years old, sanders is the oldest candidate in the democratic field. Joe biden is 76. And Elizabeth Warren is 70. President trump meanwhile is 73 years old. Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren rose 24. 6 million in the Third Quarter of 2019 according to the president ial campaign. Warren had 509,000 doe norse and received 943,000 donations, with an average donation of 26. Warren trails vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who leads the 2020 field, after raising 25. 3 million in the Third Quarter. But is ahead of mayor Pete Buttigiegs 19. 1 million, and the former Vice President joe biden who brought in 15. 2 million total. Former congressman beto orourke told reporters under like the 2020 candidates he is not prepared to share his Third Quarter fundraising total. How much money have you raised in the Third Quarter . Not prepared to share that right now. But more than we raised in the last quarter, and very grateful for everyone who has contributed. Thank you. Thank you. Just dont want to. But appreciate it. Thanks. Mike allen of axios ahead joins us with two big scoops. President trumps real impeachment inquiry and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaneys prediction. Were back in a moment. Maria ramirez mom maria Maria Ramirez. 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The Republican Leaders and members of the congress, both senate and the house, are holding back. Because theyre terrified of what will happen to any one of them if they speak out. Will they lose a primary . I dont know why that is such a disaster. But will they lose a primary . And so they need to get a grip. And when they see things that are not right they need to Say Something about it. Because our Foreign Policy is shambles right now, in my humble judgment, and i see things are happening that are hard to understand. Speaking at a lecture last week, he called himself a, quote, moderate republican. He served under bush administrations as well as National Security advisers to ronald reagan. In recent years he has leaned towards Democratic Candidates and has openly opposed donald trump. And the Union Official for the United Auto Workers has said talks with General Motors have, quote, taken turn for the worse. Talk us through this, villan. Yeah, so the uaw Vice President used that language in a letter over the course of the weekend. He said they did nothing to advance a whole host of issues. Rumored as recently as friday, they said that talks were progressing well on several fronts. Sources tell nbc that talks have quelled over the last couple of days. So it may not happen soon, this deal, yet, dont forget both sides still at the table so thats a good sign. Speaking of negotiating table, weve got highlevel u. S. china trade talks restarting this thursday after they broke up back in august. Bloomberg reporting that the chinese side are now considering a much more narrow scope for this deal in the is important because there are a lot of people at the Trump Administration who would like to see massive changes in china when it comes to industrial subsidies and such for stateowned companies in china make it difficult for u. S. To compete. One financial strategist i spoke to earlier ted today says he doesnt see any near term resolution between the two sides until at least the 2020 president ial election. Something to think about there for the u. S. President. Thank you. Up next, Mike Allen Axios as a look at that mornings one big thing. Kaunldiand coming up on mor joe, a second Whistleblower Comes Forward apparently with direct knowledge of a controversial call. Jim heinz wimes will be on g joe just moments away. Will bg joe just moments away. The lexus es. Every curve, every innovation, every feeling. A product of mastery. Lease the 2019 es 350 for 379 month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. So you dont have to stash antacids here. Tc and take control of heartburn. Here. Or here. Kick your antacid habit with prilosec otc. One pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. honk i hear you sister. 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The axios one big thing is trumps real impeachment worry. President trump has told friends that what hes really worried about when it comes to impeachment is how its going to affect his legacy. This is a scoop in axios sneak peek from Jonathan Swann and elena on a coall on friday. We heard the president blame rick perry, the president said that his Energy Secretary had convinced him to make that call to the ukrainian president. And he said it was something about lng, liquefied natural gs. One problem, of course theres no mention of liquefied national gas in that transcript. But Something Else the president said on that call, he said impeachment isnt something you want on your resume. He said i dont want impeachment on my resume. But the other thing he said to these House Republicans is, but, it could make kevin speaker, referring to kevin mccarthy, now the House Republican leader, arguing there that if impeachment, if democrats pursue it as theyre expected to, could lead to republicans taking back the house majority. So we have encapsulated there the dichotomy. President trumps Political Team is telling him impeachment is good for him, but the president , whos thinking about his legacy, thinking about how hell play in history knows its bad. Thats interesting that the president still thinks he needs a resume, by the way. Touche. I know that axios has a new scoop into the frankly amazing prediction coming from one member of the white house regarding not only President Trumps reelection chances, but, in fact, how big its going to be. Thats right. Its not just one member of the white house. The very top, acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. Mick mulvaney is predicting privately, according to Jonathan Swanns sources, that if democrats proceed with impeachment, that the president will win 45 states in 2020. Wow. That the president will have a reagan, like sweep in 2020. Now, he didnt mention which five he thinks theyre going to miss. But this reflects, were told, the genuine view inside the politically and raw electoral terms that impeachment helps and that the longer it drags out the better it is. Now, a part of that may be informed by the fact that the campaign is raising buckets of money off impeachment ever since Speaker Pelosi announced the official inquiry. The Trump Campaign is bringing in tons of money. Of course that doesnt necessarily translate to electoral votes and there is another faction within the white house that knows that impeachment is not only unpredictable, but could make the president look like a victim and not be good on the country. Weve been hearing all kinds of different extra natioplanati the ukraine call. Some claiming that the entire ukraine call was just a joke. Yeah. So this is better thats a real story. Yeah, so when you have to say that, not the onion. So this is better than the president saying that rick per relationship got him perry got him to make the call and he didnt want to make it on that call with the House Republicans. Three republicans have been out there saying that when the president said that china should investigate joe biden and his son that either he was joking or that he was trying to bait the press. So were calling this the joker defense. The president didnt really mean that. Of course the president has of course the white house has used this excuse sometimes in the past. The problem with this is that the president himself owns it and keeps repeating it and says that its his actual view. Do you think the marco rubio 2015 if he was told he would be here now defending the president would believe it back then . No. We saw marco rubio tweeting this weekend saying that he wants we watch these senators statements because what were seeing there is them laying the predicate to either to probab probably vote to acquit the president if it comes to that. To all of our viewers out there, you can sign up to that are newsletter at signup point axios. Com. Morning joe starts right now. For over a month, isis has been variety fighting to take this southeastern town near turkeys border. Of the nearly 300 american air strikes against isis in